Chianti is made in a number of townships in Tuscany. In the old days wines were made from field blends, a mix of grapes of different local varieties, planted on the one plot. The dominant variety being Sangiovese with a splash Canaiolo, Colorino and others thrown into the mix. In the last few decades French varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz have been introduced and incorporated into many Tuscan wines. The Cabernet Blends like Ornellaia from Antinori have received critical acclaim. A bottle of 1990 Ornellaia was wine of the night amongst some serious Barolos from the likes of Gaja, Aldo Conterno, Masseto & Mascarello.
I still have a soft spot for the Sangiovese focused wines. Over the last couple of years I’ve been so focused on drinking wines from Piedmont, Sicily and around Naples and beyond, that I’ve forgotten just how much fun Chianti can be. Sangiovese typically has big bunches, with large berries and thin skins, that can result in wines of light colour. Don’t let that deceive you. They can have incredible intensity and are well worth getting your laughing gear around. Here’s a few I’ve tried recently that have been fun!
Castello Monsanto
A few rustic Chianti’s on the deck at Boccaccio Cellars today! The same, but, different to the Isole e Olena wines.
All three are blends of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo and Colorino.
2013 Chianti Classico – looking raw, needs time to settle. Some chewing texture demanding food. $35.
2012 Chianti Classico Riserva – a hard edge, structure supported by a splash in some new oak. Solid core of fruit and some funk. Again one to watch. $60.
2010 Chianti Classico Riserva Vigneto “Il Poggio” – a density not present in the others. Fruit depth handling the oak beautifully. Refined texture, plenty of yumminess! Can’t wait for the 2012 … Birth year wine for my first! $100.
Isole e Olena
2012 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico – 80% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 5% Shiraz. Old school style, respecting the fruit. Savoury yumminess, layering up sour cherries with a refined texture & an edge of acid that would cut the fat of a Bisteccca Fiorentina perfectly. The best standard Isole e Olena I’ve tasted in ages. Threw a few of these bad boys in the cellar. $35. BEST VALUE OF THESE WINES!!
2010 Isole e Olena “Cepparello”– 100% SangioveseBrooding almost inky core of fruit holding its own in competition with an edge of new oak. Great to see it under Screwcap. Needs time. $99.
The Chardonnay line-up at Boccaccio Cellars Vic Wine Show tasting today! I love where Aussie Chardonnay is going. Playing right at the limitless of yumminess!
2014 Seville Estate Chardonnay – Yarra Valley: my personal preference. wicked value at around $30 a tube! Fresh style with juicy linear acid & the core of fruit to support it. Whole bunch pressed and wild fermented in large 300L, 500L and foudre ~2000L oak (not sure of exact size, just a guess). Big oak reduces the effective amount of oak per litre of wine.
2014 Coldstream Hills Estate & Reserve Chardonnay – Yarra Valley: Estate looking better than the reserve on the day. Both lovely core of fruit. Angularity of oak in the reserve. $30 & $50 respectively.
2014 Piano Piano Sophie’s Block Chardonnay – Beechworth: a funk monster, lots of lees, wild ferment & craziness with some delicious fruit to support it. Out there & loving it!
The Shiraz Line Up!
These 3 wines represent much of what I love about wine. All Shiraz, from three regions across Victoria. They are all unique. We get to celebrate the difference & enjoy yummy wine with very individual personalities.
2013 Mitchell Harris Shiraz – Pyrenees: with it’s fresh vibrant fruit, perfume and supple texture at $35.
2013 Tahbilk Shiraz – Goulburn Valley: with it’s rustic structure, savouriness, showing the almost Barolo like tannins of the region at $? pre-release sample hence the non-commercial label.
2013 Buckshot Vineyard Shiraz – Heathcote: with an inky density of fruit, big ballsy, but, still with a refined texture at $35.
3 different wines 3 very good wines, giving us as consumers 3 yummy experiences. Your personal preference deciding which is your drink of choice! The lucky country! All winners at this years Victorian Wine Show.
A Pinot in the Mix
2014 Seville Estate Pinot Noir – Yarra Valley: Solid booze at $30 a bottle. Cooler fresher style with lift from a portion of whole bunches in the ferment. These also added a spice and a chewing mouthfeel. It hard to see wines like this at their best so young. They just need some time to settle. The core of fruit is their, masked by stalks. This should be a delicious wine in a few years when the mouthfeel settles and the flavours start to layer in. So be patient!
Barolo has undergone a revolution of the last few decades. One that we’ve seen occur across many of the great wine regions of the world. Think Burgundy, Tuscany and even Australia. It’s a cycle where tradition gets overtaken by technology and often ends up with those craftsmen who tend vines and make wine finding a balance between the two employing more restraint to let fruit shine and using artefacts like oak only to layer in complexity not dominate a wine.
Clearly there’s personal preference and market driven style decision to consider. Some people like a balls and all red loaded with tree branches. Personally I’ll stick to the former, the zone where wines of intrigue and personality rest!
Anthony D’Anna’s 2004 Barolo Retrospective demonstrated this perfectly with wines from both sides of the coin.
Beyond that it gave us a chance to see how the vintage was holding up. The consensus, blood well, with some ones entering the drinking window and others still a few years away. The more I drink Barolo the more I tend to think waiting 10 years is a minimum and drinking good ones between 15-20 years of age is a good rule of thumb. Scroll on to ready the wine list and reviews.
2004: CREAM RISES TO THE TOP – Notes below by Antonio GalloniThe
2004 Growing Season and Wines
One of the key attributes of 2004 is that both quality and yields are high, two characteristics that don’t always go hand in hand. After the torrid 2003, during which the vines ceased vegetative development in order to conserve energy, the more temperate conditions of 2004 led plants to unleash all of their stored energy, which in turn produced a large crop. Diligent growers reported making several passes in the vineyard in an attempt to restrict yields, but there is only a certain amount man can impose on nature. A few wines have put on additional weight in bottle, but those are largely Barolos that already hinted at considerable volume when they were younger. I was also deeply impressed with a handful of entry-level Barolos from top growers that showed far better than I would have ever expected. So much of the wine world revolves around the importance of vintages, yet I continue to believe consumers are often best served by focusing on producer first.
What Am I Looking For at Ten Years?
All things considered, though, the 2004s have aged spectacularly well. At the ten-year mark, I am looking closely at how wines are developing, specifically if the elements in a wine are aging at the same pace, which I consider absolutely essential. In other words, are the aromatics, fruit and overall structural profile in-line, or not? This is the eighth comprehensive Barolo retrospective I have done. Of the four vintages I have covered at the ten year mark, 2004 clearly surpasses 2000, 2001 and 2003 in both overall quality and consistency. That applies to 1999 as well, although I tasted those wines at ages seven and fourteen. The pure thrill in revisiting these wines is only equaled by the same level of excitement I felt when tasting through the 1989s and 1990s a few years back. In present day terms, 2004 is similar to 2008 in style, as the wines are perfumed and graceful, and also (with a few exceptions) much less imposing in tannin than either 2006 or 2010, the two powerhouse vintages of the decade. I expect the 2004s will age beautifully for years to come. In general, the wines will open up at a younger age than the 2006s and 2010s and are likely to fade a bit earlier too, although that is of course in relative terms, as Barolo is a long-term ager compared to most of the world’s red wines.
2004 Barolo Festa – The Good!
Make sure you turn up the volume … the tunes are a part of the wine review!
Cavallotto Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe – Stunning perfume sappy herbs great mid palate. Stunning balance. Needs time to open. Closed nose. Core of fruit on palate. Big front mid palate oak.
Bartolo Mascarello – *Wine of the Night* Made from fruit from Cannubi, San Lorenzo, Rué & Rocche. Beautiful secondary development, oppulence, great tannin balance, even long, incredibly rich, poised violets, yumminess. Stunnning. Second time I’ve had this in the last 12 months. Both bottles were superb!
Capellano – Closed looking an edge reduced and meaty. Good length most developed feeling a little hot. Opened and blossomed in the glass.
Massolino Barolo – VA lift. Lots of Secondaries. Tight angular hot alcohol. Beautiful core of fresh fruit.
Massolino Dieci Anni Vigna Rionda Riserva – Jumping out of the glass, vibrant fruit, secondary development. Beautifully layered. Great length of fruit wee hump of tannin mid palate. Lovely acid. Held back by the winery for 10 years before release.
2004 Barolo Festa – The Ugly! OTT Oakey Ones!
Make sure you turn up the volume … the tunes are a part of the wine review!
2004 Baroli Festa! The UGLY! All of these wines tended toward the OTT modernist style with lashings of coarse oak masking what was often an incredible core of delicious fruit. Creating unnecessary angularity and harshness! Great learnings to see them side by side with a number of other wines that got it right.
Poderi Luigi Einaudi Cannubi – Resinous sappy pulling a little short. Again developing well. Sappiness comes through on the palate. Front palate new oak dissruptive.
Elio Grasso Runcot Riserva – Stunning perfume & lift layered with fresh fruit & flowers, unfortunately masked by coarse oak. Searing acidity, edgy mid palate tannin that’s a little too hard. Asking for a little fatty food to enhance it. Heap of oak. Tough wine. Why did they throw this many trees at it! It could have been superb had a little restraint been shown!
Sandrone Le Vigne – Cooked over ripe jammy. Hard oak tannin coarse. Unyielding. Barossa of Barolo. Tough wine.
Azelia San Rocco & Bricco Fiasco – were just that! Oaky sappy hot alcoholic. Unexpressive. OTT WTF? Potential tainted.
Rocche Castamagna, Rocche dell’Annunziata – Boring, cooked out of balance.
Clerico Pajana WTF pushing the boundaries. OTT too much oak.
2013 Guigal Côtes du Rhône – Viognier, Roussane, Marsanne blend. Fun every day drinker with plenty of personality. Bargain for under $20 a tube.
2013 La Font du Vent Côtes du Rhône Viognier. Some succulent acid & spice with an edge of that oily texture typical of Viognier and resting beautifully in this wine. Lots of intrigue. Again great value at less than $20 a tube.
Overall lots of yumminess and plenty of bang for your buck!
Next up 3 x sub $20 Côte du Rhône Reds!
2011 Guigal Blend of 60% Syrah, 35% Grenache & 5% Mouvèrdre. Year in year out this is a great value wine, particularly given the volume they make. Insane that they manage to age it for 18 months in foundres (massive old oak barrels) and have an average vine age of 35years!
Mont-Redon 2012 Grenache, Syrah fun booze intriguing, layered, yummy!
Château Pégau 2012 Grenache, Syrah, Mouvèrdre Stepped it up with greater depth & a real lift. Bags of personality and a refined texture! Wine of the bracket.
Overall great value, complexity, yumminess. Get one of each and go back for the one you like.
Last up 2 x 2012 Châteauneuf du Papes!
Mont-Redon Little hit of new oak. Almost only density. Solid booze. Needs some time to settle into it’s skin and reveal full potential $65.
Pégau had an edge of the pox (brettanomyces, a spoilage yeast) it was at a level that you could say added to complexity. The challenge being that it could dominate more over time. Some great fruit and texture behind it. $120.
Keep on the Rhône theme with a Rhône inspired red.
Yarra Yering Dry Red No2 a Shiraz Viognier Marsanne plus secret ingredients blend. A cheeky Dolcetto on the side.
YY Beautiful core of juicy fruit. A rawness that comes from not getting enough air time during oak ageing. May have been a result of the first time the winery has bottled under screw cap.
Benevelli Dolcetto an animal, well developed, a bit of animal. Serious structure that just asks for a bit of cow on your plate! Bargain at $25.
1988, 1989 & 1990 are referred to by many as the years that made Barolo, starting it’s astronomic rise to celebrity status amongst the greatest wines of the world. Once again Anthony D’Anna has scoured the cellars of Barolo to source 14 of the most celebrated Crus from these three vintages. Rare does not even begin to describe “drinkings” like these. You don’t taste these wines, you devour them, they are meant to be enjoyed with delicious food and good friends. When I first found out that I had a ticket to this event I had goosebumps and the very thought of the pleasure that awaited me!
Themes have started to come together over the last few “Il Vino da Tavola” dinners. Bottle condition, corks, old world vs new, oak, acid, restraint, oppulence, the hand of the maker, drinking windows.
What’s the difference between Great wine & Mind-Blowing wine, wines that scream DRINK ME?
Perhaps the most important question to answer from the night. I sought to assess these wines at the extreme level of excellence and differentiate between stunning and mind blowing. There were a couple of wines that I’d happily devour every night of the week and twice on Sunday, yet, amongst this company they were lost.
So what, was the difference between those wines that shone and those that whilst excellent didn’t make the cut on the night? I was looking for an edge more, that extra layer of complexity, harmony, seamlessness, wines that screamed DRINK ME! That rare ability to caress your tongue with a divine texture. The wine version of the renaissance man! I saw it in the Cicala, Mofortino, Voerzio’s and Grasso, hidden under some Brett in the Gigi Rosso. So very close to being there in the Vietti’s. I’ve seen it in the past in the wines of Bartolo Mascarello. A core of incredible fruit wrapped in so many layers of yumminess and intrigue, that you can’t help but go back for more!
At a purist level, I just wanted the extra nuances that take it to the ultimate level. It felt like the wines that didn’t quite get there had seen some overt intervention, holding them back from being a true expression of site.
To address the elephant in the room … Where does the line between being too technical in your assessment of wine and just calling a spade a spade rest?
If it’s bretty enough to detract from the aroma and give the wine a hard finish it’s bretty. If the fruit has been dulled through oxidation, well, you guessed it, it’s oxidized! I’ll call the spade a spade. If a fault stops a site expressing it’s true personality then it hasn’t enhanced the wine, it’s detracted from it.
Tonight, there we wines that had faults that detracted from their expression. It’s a shame that wines of such great quality haven’t reach their potential. They weren’t terminal, but, they weren’t the best examples.
How old is too old?
The ultimate rule for wine applies here … call the wine, not the maker, not the region, not the vintage. The Gaja’s had years left in them, as did the Voerzio. The Vietti’s, Monfortino, Grasso, Gigi, Aldo Contertno’s good to go now. Fantana, Borgogno over the hill. As a generalisation, increasingly I’m getting the sense that 15-20 years is a good window with the caveat that you still need to play the wine, try a bottle after 5 years and give yourself a feel for when to try it next. This leads to the next question …
How much difference does provenance make?
Provenance is the cellaring history of the wine. Has it been stored under optimal conditions or not? The sense around the table was that a few of the wines hadn’t been stored well. The Monfortino and the Grasso were the two wines that stood out as perhaps not showing as well as they might have, potentially due to storage. The Monfortino, at close to $1,000 a bottle looked like it had seen some heat, now that hurts! Finding these wines, putting a collection like this together alone is a challenge guaranteeing provenance without source direct from the winery is near impossible.
Rusty tap water! Does colour really matter?
Simply stated … NO! As far as I’m concerned blind fold me. I just don’t care! Give me bags of aroma, flavour, texture and personality and I’m a happy fella! The Nerello Mascalese from Etna and the Barbaresco and Barolo from Piedmont are often pale, they can look insipid, at the same time they are some of the most intriguing wines with incredible personalities.
Incredibly rich, ripe, complex wine with layers of flavour and bags of aroma. A little VA lift, great savouriness. Soft and supple. This bottle wasn’t in the greatest condition, appeared a little heat affected. Will have to try another to confirm!
Loved the acid drive of Cicala, beautifully structured with fine tannin. A stunning perfume, incredibly elegant feminine Barolo, layered with savoury goodness.
ANGELO GAJA -Barbaresco- Sperss 1989 Barolo
The Sperss showed the balance of oak and oak tannin, fruit and acid that I was looking for in the younger of the 5 Decades of Gaja Barbaresco we drank a month ago, but, did not find until we reached 2011. Incredible perfume, core of fruit. The Gaja’s were some of the most youthful wines on the night. Great, clarity, freshness and a colour that suggest a little more than Nebbiolo was in the mix. I’d have loved just an extra bit of restraint in the oak handling to allow the site to shine a little more, rather than the hand of the maker. Now classified as a Langhe, not a Barolo, due to incorporation of around 3% of Barbera.
ROBERTO VOERZIO -La Morra- La Serra 1989 Barolo
Voerzio’s La Serra was one of the wines of the night. Complete, full and round, harmony, complexity balance. An expression of a special site.
ANGELO GAJA -Barbaresco- Sperss 1990 Barolo
Just like the ’89, incredibly youthful. True to the Sperss style of the ’89 with that slightly overt oak. It was pulling short initially, openned to show a lovely perfume.
ETTORE FONTANA Castiglione F. Barolo 1990
Dried out and thin. Well past it’s prime. The colour of this wine was like a pale Rosé.
This could have been wine of the night bar the Brettanomyces! Incredible core of fruit, masked, by a little to much Brett. You could see what was underneath it. So much potential lost!
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ROBERTO VOERZIO -La Morra- La serra 1990 Barolo
As with the ’89, this was look fresh, opulent, refined and elegant. Oak structure was there, yet, not over the top. Like the Conterno’s it had a great acid drive and a beautifully even structure. There was incredible pleasure to be derived from this wine.
ELIO GRASSO -Monforte- Ginestra Casa Mate’ 1990 Barolo
Brooding, opened up beautifully. Would have loved an edge more acid, a personal thing really. Rich wine with incredible complexity. The 2004 was my Wine of Night at a Monforte dinner a year ago. Stunning wine. Would have loved to see it 5 years ago.
PODERI ALDO CONTERNO Monforte Bussia 1990 Barolo
An edge corked, looking flatter and less vibrant than expected. Would still drink it every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Again and again Aldo Conterno comes up with the goods! His wines are refined, sophisticated creatures, with so many layers of yumminess.
PIO CESARE -Alba- Ornato 1990 Barolo
Massive oak, with huge mid-palate structure and fruit with a silvery line of bitterness that worked well with food. Drunk by itself I’d probably have rated this wine higher. In comparison with the better wines on the night it lacked the layers and complexity.
GIACOMO BORGOGNO E F. -Barolo- Barolo 1990
Wild wine! Out of control, oxidised and hard. True to the Borgogno style it was an animal, savoury and rough around the edges, blood like saltiness, almost vegemite.
VIETTI -Castiglione F.- Lazzarito 1990 Barolo
Finishing with two Vietti’s was a conflicting moment for me. I visited the winery back in 2005 and have a soft spot for the people and their wines. The following comments need to be put in context. Both wines were sensational examples of Baroli. On this night I sought to assess wines at the extreme level of excellence and differentiate between stunning and mind blowing. If I’d happily rave about the Pio Cesare Ornato on it’s own, I’d by rolling around the floor drink these bad boys. Vietti have exceptional sites and great fruit. I was looking for an edge more, that extra layer of complexity I saw in the Cicala, Mofortino and Voerzio. I felt that these wines had seen some intervention, holding them back from being a true expression of site. The Lazzarito appeared rounder, slightly broader. I feel like a bit of a hard ass. This was a great wine, again at a purist level, I just wanted the extra nuances that take it to the ultimate level.
VIETTI -Castiglione F.- Rocche 1990 Barolo
The Rocche stepped it up, the structure, acid and refinement, gave it a level of finesse that appeals. The restraint it showed was impressive, with such a core of fruit. Again I’d happily drink both wines every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I’d like to see them both as wines direct from the cellar. Perhaps they would have showed better a few years ago. That said as with many of the great wines of the world, I feel that they would have only declined slightly after their peak and would continuing drinking well for some time. I need to look at more young Vietti to see the direction Luca is heading in … Technical vs Expression of Site vs Restraint!
